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Imagine how extraordinarily difficult it must be to cover Syria as a news story. Of all the Arab Spring stories this has to be the most difficult to tell with any accuracy or authority. It wasn't easy, even before the troubles started. Journalists have not been underrated by the Syrian authorities, as they have so often been elsewhere. (Remember the Iraqi Information Minister in 2003 denying that the US invaders were in Baghdad when evidence to the contrary could even be viewed behind him?). Overall, the Syrian regime knows how important the global media is and has illustrated this amply by treating it as much the enemy as the insurgents themselves, who risk and lose their lives protecting the journalists because of that very same importance.

Social media is playing its growing role, but with this comes a widening imbalance between the transparency of the offering and the networks' need for relevance, realism and immediacy. Something is always going to be wrong in the communication of the truth. Somewhere along the line it will sometimes be sacrificed for the communication of reality, upholstered as necessary to gain the audience it needs for political and, doubtless, economic reasons.

Literally thousands of videos have been uploaded to video sharing platforms such as Vimeo and YouTube in the past few weeks that purport to describe Syria's agony and it would not be surprising in the least to discover that many of these are false media captures.

Social media has become one of the key tools for telling the outside world the modern story of Syria and of the desperate attempts of those in the uprising to publicize the destruction, violence and damage being wrought upon them. Sometimes the sensory impact that is necessary simply cannot be produced from the truth. In other words the picture, the gunshots, the explosions to illustrate the narrative are missing and cannot therefore satisfy a prurient audience, ever ready to see cynicism and duplicity in others. Hard-faced as the buyer is, these news goods have to be authentic. It's not the first time that pictures have been faked to make a valid point (take a bow, Piers Morgan) and it will not be the last, but some have been genuinely shocked and even outraged to hear that some of the videos and reports have been faked to ensure that all the authentic sounds of battle ring true in viewers' ears.

Some of the artifice will not be so shocking. For instance, activists are also circulating advice online on how to take pictures of the killed and maimed and of torture victims for use in any future trials.

There will be many, especially Syrians, who will wonder what the fuss is about. Both sides will try to present events from a perspective favorable to them and they will resort to completely fabricated news. That is because for some, this is genuine war, without quarter given, no rules, the battle for civilization. Faking certain pictures is hardly the main issue. For others, including the comfortable viewing public in other countries, it is information and they require it to be scientifically authenticated and correct. Yet the battle still rages. And the videos continue to upload. Nowhere better than during such conflicts is the ongoing battle between the great principles of truth and reality rightly illustrated. You can read more on this topic at The Syrian story of truth and reality at Clement's reputation management resource.